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Carver still hoping to land Newcastle job

Head coach John Carver hopes he is given the chance to stay on at Newcastle United after the club avoided relegation on Sunday.

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Written ByPeter Thompson

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John Carver still harbours ambitions of being appointed
Newcastle United head coach on a permanent basis after keeping the
club in the Premier League on a tense final day at St James'
Park.

Carver has come in for plenty of criticism during a tumultuous
reign since taking over following Alan Pardew's departure to
Crystal Palace at the end of last year.

Newcastle dropped like a stone after picking up just one point
in 10 games and headed into the final day of the season needing a
win against West Ham to ensure there was no chance they would drop
into the Championship.

Moussa Sissoko eased the tension by putting the Tyneside club in
front with a header early in the second half and Jonas Gutierrez
scored his first goal since winning his battle with cancer five
minutes from time to secure a 2-0 victory.

Newcastle's result proved to be irrelevant in the battle to
avoid the drop, as Hull City were held to a goalless draw with
Manchester United needing a victory to have any chance of staying
up.

Unpopular owner Mike Ashley broke his silence ahead of the game
by stating the club is not for sale at any price and he is going
nowhere until Newcastle win a trophy.

And Carver is hoping he is the man who is given the chance to
take his hometown club forward after masterminding a victory in
what proved to be West Ham manager Sam Allardyce's last game in
charge.

He told Sky Sports: "From day one I've wanted this job and I
still want it. To go through what I've had to go through from day
one has been very difficult. We shouldn't be in this position, but
we were and we dealt with it."

Carver praised the manner in which his players dealt with an
anxious final game of the season with so much at stake.

"It was a proper rollercoaster and I thought we dealt with our
emotions very well," he added.

"Sam put his strongest team out, which he had to do, and credit
to him for that. They were resolute and hard to break down.

"What I will say is we started the season with a huge disaster,
we lost two of our fans [Liam Sweeney and John Alder in a plane
crash] and I think they were looking down on us today. I'm getting
quite emotional saying this."